Summer had brought its fair share of heat, which was almost always expected, but that hadn't meant that everything became boring and the like. Particularly as there were cases for breaking routines that related to the normal part of the year, and for Miles and his family, that had included a bit of a vacation away from Lyre and Animalia. His mother, Louise Williamson, and his father, David Williamson, had essentially gotten an offer for a vacation to Vilcabamba that Joanne had paid for before she and her daughter married their respective Fennec Fox Animalian fiancés and had jumped at it. Miles even liked the idea as it would let him cover some of the discoveries that were found near the hotel that Animalia had updated there to serve as the main part of the colony.
It was entertaining and had helped provide some material for how Animalia and Animalians were looking at things like global warming and so on. As Vilcabamba was warmer than Lyre and far more humid. Miles knew that his mom didn't do too bad, as by becoming a River Dolphin Animalian that was native to the general area, it was relatively easy for her to swim there without trouble. His dad, as a Macaw Animalian had enjoyed some of the flying tours that were given and even flying over where Louise was swimming. For Miles, it'd seemed like a good vacation for all of them. Of course, the return meant a return to preparing for school and his mother returning to her work for Joanne, which would go on even with the Fennec Fox Animalians off on their honeymoon. For Miles, this meant running down some information that he'd uncovered, which had provided him with a rather pleasant surprise.
"I didn't really expect to be meeting you again," Miles spoke as he sat down at a picnic table in one of Lyre's parks opposite Sarah and Malice. The sun was going down and the air was a bit cooler, and his long ears could easily pick up Belle and Bash playing catch with a tennis ball not too far away.
"We agreed to do a lot of stuff during the summer," Sarah commented as she looked over to Miles, "and it gives you guys' time to take a bit of a break given that Animalia Ambassadoria does have you juggle a lot of things during the school year. And with Jessica and Roger getting really into their theater classes... and helping Roger's brother, Sophie and Roland looking hard into their studies, and Abby helping with the family farm, we have the most time."
"Not to mention that by babysitting Belle and Bash as well," Malice added, "that gives our parents some time to have a good time, if you know what I mean."
Miles slowly nodded. Animalians had long been noted to have a much higher libido than Humans did and given that they were also rather well built, many of the things that Humans were often "shy" on wasn't really there for Animalians. That was another thing that Horizon only had a theory for, but no definitive proof for, but in the end that didn't matter, as Miles was well aware of that. His parents weren't necessarily too old for sex, but back in New York, when they were all Human, between his mother's work schedule for Joanne and his father's work that took him out into the city, he'd figured that things were often too busy for anything like that to be rather regular. At the same time, his old room was not close to where his parents' room was and thus it was unlikely that he'd even hear anything if they did. In the set of apartments that Joanne's mansion in Animalia provided for her staff, though, his room was closer to his parents' room, and as a Black Tailed Jackrabbit Animalian, Miles' hearing was much better. In this, he could hear some of his parents' activities at night including a comment of "your feathers tickle in all the most amazing ways," but he wasn't going to comment on that.
"I'm aware," Miles said slowly, though noting Sarah giving one glare to her sister.
"And what about this "friends with benefits" thing that we heard about?" Malice asked to Miles, with her tail wagging in a way that told Miles that the Husky Animalian was having a fair amount of fun at the meeting, even with the heat.
"Ah... well," Miles began, "it's not QUITE what you would think when someone says, "friends with benefits." It's a bit different..."
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It was still hot and muggy when Miles made it back to the hotel that served as the headquarters for Vilcabamba. Crânio and Mandibula had done a lot for managing it and had ultimately worked reasonably close with the Brazilian city/town that was a few miles down river from where Vilcabamba was set up, and in that sense, to Miles it made for a decent vacation spot if one was wanting to get away from the big city hype that went around other places like Rio. His parents had enjoyed some exploring and even swimming. Miles didn't mind the pool, but he'd heard enough stories and reports on piranhas that he wasn't going to go into the river, regardless of what actually invited the little carnivorous fish to attack.
The report on the caves and the things found down there was something that Miles felt would go well, though he also still wondered on how they were there. He wasn't super big into geology, but he'd never seen any report of caves being found in areas like the Amazon before, at least not natural ones. His best guess was that given the artifacts that were found there coming from Central America, that there had to be some form of trade and barter system that connected many of the ancient peoples and tribes of South and Central America. He then guessed that the cave was likely dug out by some group of Humans back in the region's past, but that was just a hunch, and he had no proof either way. These thoughts were still on his mind when he caught sight of two Animalians waiting for him as he came out of the rainforest and onto the path that led up to the hotel.
The pair looked to be the same species of Animalian as his parents but there were some key differences. The Macaw Animalian was female, and the Amazon River Dolphin was male. And unlike his parents who were both converted Humans, only the Amazon River Dolphin Animalian had any Human hair. Miles noted that both were waiting quietly though twiddling their fingers a bit as he approached, which only raised the suspicion in Miles mind that they were waiting for him.
"Hello, you are Miles Williamson, yes?" the Macaw Animalian asked turning her head a bit to the side.
"With Animalia Ambassadoria, yes," Miles answered, "is there something I can help you with?"
"I am Scarlet, and this is my former owner, Pele," the Macaw Animalian began.
"Like the soccer player?" Miles wondered to the Amazon River Dolphin Animalian.
"Spelled the same, yes," Pele answered with a heavily accented voice, "but I've never played football at any high level. And those I played with said I did not play well..."
Miles watched as Pele shrugged and remembered that for much of the world, football was soccer. It was really only in the US that soccer and football were different sports. He wasn't sure on how Canada viewed them, as they played both sports as well.
"But I've done reasonably well with shipping along the river and moving goods and people," Pele then continued, "and the colony here... Vilcabamba provided a new start for that."
"So... you live here?" Miles asked.
"No, we still live in Manaus," Pele explained, "I converted about a year ago to help expand my ferry service... and well, I figured that I couldn't not uplift Scarlet if I were to be an Animalian."
"And we've made good friends in Manaus and Vilcabamba," Scarlet added, "and talked through email with fun people who want to come to either the Brazilian city or the Animalian colony. And then we were surprised to learn of a married pair of Animalians like us... a Macaw and a River Dolphin."
"You know my parents?" Miles asked.
"They selected our services because of the add I'd put out that had Scarlet and I on it," Pele nodded, "and shared that they were a reverse version of our "pairing" which made for some interesting communications."
"And it made for a good friendship," Scarlet commented, "nice to learn about people like us... and made for... well... what's the English phrase... friends with benefits?"
If Miles had been drinking anything, it would have been sprayed out of his mouth and split by the incisors at the front of his mouth. He knew his parents had got all their libido back as Animalians, but he also knew they had a happy marriage and had said they weren't looking for having more children. So, to hear an uplifted Animalian refer to the relationship as "friends with benefits," something Miles knew implied sex. And while they'd been at Vilcabamba for a few days, Miled had seen no sign of anything like that. He was never ushered out of the room they all shared in the evenings, and he'd had no sign of anyone meeting with his parents. That was all shocking, as he didn't think some of the times, he'd been either exploring during the day or covering the cave for Animalia Ambassadoria would have been enough for them to get into something like this.
"You're..." Miles stuttered out.
"Not quite," Pele answered, "it's not quite the "friends with benefits" that you're thinking of. I've provided some added benefits to the service between Manaus and Vilcabamba. This includes some tours and guided swims in area and places where those travelling between the two spots could have other things. Some of it includes finding spots that are quite beautiful to look at and observing issues with things like spiders, snakes, and jaguars and things like that."
"So, it's just added benefits to the business you run?" Miles asked, feeling some rising relief and watching Pele and Scarlet nodded immediately.
"It's a bit more than that," Pele admitted, "partially because your parents are the reverse of Scarlet and I, and they seemed quite intrigued by it in their emails. It was friendly... and well... it provided something that I don't get too much of outside of the times when Scarlet and I are here and bringing tourists in."
"We guided them up to a nice spot to the west of the hotel," Scarlet spoke, "it was open, no real dangers in the immediate area, and with branches that overhung the river and which your father and I could perch on. Though there was one fallen tree that was just above the river. Your mom and dad wanted a photo of them on the tree before returning to the tour."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Miles commented.
"The picture went fine," Pele nodded, "but when your mother moved to get back into the water, a loose branch caught her bikini, and she ended up falling face first into the river and leaving them on the branch."
Miles winced at that and let Pele continue his explanation.
"The only thing that she hurt was her pride and we got her back to the room your family is in," Pele continued, "I gave your dad directions to a store in Manaus that has expanded to sell to Animalians from Vilcabamba and he went in to essentially buy a replacement swimsuit for your mother... and we were directed to "keep you out here" until she could get dressed."
"So, I take it my dad flew back to Manaus?" Miles asked.
"After he was certain your mother was okay," Scarlet assured him, "she should be out when she's dressed..."
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"And she did come back out," Miles then finished, "more embarrassed than anything else."
He was greeted by a pair of giggles from Sarah and Malice, who'd apparently found the whole thing very funny. Parts of it were, but Miles really didn't want to laugh at his own mother.
"I'm sorry," Sarah apologized after a moment, "but... your parents befriended a tourist agent online because he appeared to be in a relationship similar to theirs? And the uplifted Macaw didn't fully understand the whole "friends with benefits" thing?"
"Well, Scarlet was uplifted... I mean, Animalians do seem to learn a lot just through being uplifted," Miles answered, "but do they always pick up on everything that comes from Human society or culture? And I mean EVERYTHING?"
"Well... no," Sarah agreed.
"But you'll be surprised what we notice before being uplifted," Malice added, "one would think that Scarlet would have known that the phrase was sexual in nature when the relationship was rather professional to just normal friendship."
"But at least the mix up was cleared up," Sarah then assured Miles that everything was fine, "that part of the story is a bit funny... but that was an innocent mistake."
That eased things up and allowed Miles to return to the main purpose of the meeting that was all part of the preparation for things that would come when the summer ended, and school resumed.